One of my all time favorite things to do for my friends and family and even strangers is make mixes. Whether they be themed like the "Autumn blues" mix I make for my girlfriends every year or just a collection of my current favorites. It is a great feeling to expose others to music and art that they do not yet know about and to be able to give them something else in this world that makes them feel connected to the rest of humanity. I mean don't get me wrong sometimes a mix cd is just that but there have been times in my life when I have received or made the perfect mix to satisfy my emotional needs in that moment and to me there is nothing better.
Knowing this my wonderful college roommate Christy bought me a book for Christmas called "love is a mix tape" and it is turning out to be one of my favorite books of all time (granted I am only 44 pages in). The writer, Rob Sheffield, and his wife shared an amazing connection through music and like me over-indulged in the art of mix making. This story, at least thus far, appears to be his tribute to their brief life together and he uses the mixes made by the two of them to bring him back to that time. "Nothing connects to the moment like music"
I'm not really sure where I intended to take this post except that this book is stirring something in me. I'm not really quite sure what that is yet, but so far I am absolutely in love with it! All I know is that when I am gone I have every intention of leaving behind as many mixes as possible to tell my life story :)
"I have built my entire life around loving music, and I surround myself with it. I'm always racing to catch up on my next favorite song. But I never stop playing my mixes. Every fan makes them. The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with - nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they add up to the story of life."
Lovelovelove!
